JX Fund – European Fund for Journalism in Exile

Maral Jekta will take over as managing director of the JX Fund at the start of October 1st. She is succeeding Penelope Winterhager, who has successfully managed the fund since its foundation in spring 2022. During a transition phase until the end of October, Penelope Winterhager will work alongside Maral Jekta as she takes on her role as Managing Director. As of November 1st, full operational and strategic leadership of the JX Fund will be in the hands of Maral Jekta.

Maral Jekta has several years of experience in managing and coordinating media and democracy projects in Germany and the MENA region. Most recently, she worked as a senior researcher and program lead for the online magazine Tehran Bureau, which reports on politics, society and corruption in Iran. Previously she worked for many years as a senior project manager at MiCT – Media in Cooperation & Transition, an international NGO that implements media projects in crisis and transition countries and advocates for press freedom, media development, and support for journalists in exile.

“We are delighted to have gained Maral Jekta, a person who has worked in politically sensitive contexts many times in her career to date. Her expertise in exiled media, civic engagement and rights-based programming will be invaluable in further developing the JX Fund,” says Tim Göbel, CEO of the Schöpflin Foundation, a shareholder of the JX Fund together with Reporters Without Borders and the Rudolf Augstein Foundation.

The outgoing managing director, Penelope Winterhager, has been responsible for developing and expanding the JX Fund over the past three years. At the beginning of this year, she decided to hand over management of the fund and start new projects. “Penelope Winterhager, as the founding managing director, played a pivotal role in establishing the JX Fund as a central hub for exiled media. We are deeply grateful for her dedication and tireless commitment,” says Stephanie Reuter, Executive Director of the Rudolf Augstein Foundation. “In this role, she has not only successfully established a new organization but also opened up opportunities for numerous media outlets and individuals to continue reporting critically from exile on the situation in their countries of origin,” states Katja Gloger from Reporters without Borders.

The JX Fund supports exiled media outlets from countries where independent journalism is no longer possible due to repression, persecution, and censorship. The JX Fund has been established by Reporters Without Borders, the Rudolf Augstein Foundation and Schöpflin Foundation.

Read the German version here